Theatre & Dance Department
The Department of Theatre & Dance provides opportunities to investigate the human condition by exploring creative expression through collaboration in live performance, classroom work, and co-curricular activities.
Live performance is a collaborative experience that is multi-disciplinary at its core.
Ensembles commune in civic arenas in search of freedom, self-expression, and the exchange of ideas. Students find their identity (or even an aspect of it) on our stages, in rehearsals/ studios, and or in the classroom is an essential aspect of representative storytelling. It enhances belonging and assists in the development of compassionate global citizens.
The department's primary academic focus is our six mainstage productions. Students can also explore many of the specialized areas that make up our discipline. Current courses vary from choreography to set design.
With a vibrant cocurricular program, students can participate in one of the many dance clubs on campus as well as a host of student-directed one-act plays produced by the Drama Labs.
Acting & Directing
Dance & Choreography
Design & Production
The Theatre Program is designed to empower, inspire, and transform students through the art of live storytelling. The curriculum is grounded in the act of personal storytelling and a multi-disciplinary approach to the theatrical process. Some current course offerings include hip-hop theatre, devised theatre, directing, to mention a few.
Andover Dance welcomes students as movers, creators, and scholars. The program is designed for students and the extended community to experience the concept of dance as a language, exploring movement as a form of communication and expression fundamental to all cultures. Dance classes are offered through athletic, academic and extra-curricular offerings. Current class offerings include modern, ballet, jazz, improvisation, choreographic elements, and dance on camera.
The Design and Production Program enables students to become involved in all aspects of theatrical production. The department offers courses in costuming, lighting, set design, and stagecraft. Advanced courses allow students to work as designers on department productions, under the guidance of the Design and Production faculty. Additionally, students are encouraged to participate in department productions serving as the technical crew during performances. In both classes and productions, students gain practical, hands-on experience with collaborative work in designing, constructing, and implementing creative ideas onstage.
Recent Performances
Box Office
The Theatre and Dance Box Office is located across the hall from Tang Theatre in George Washington Hall. Get directions to the theatre.
Phone: 978-749-4433
Hours: Weekdays: 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
The Box Office also opens one half hour prior to each show. We begin taking reservations for a performance approximately two weeks before the show is scheduled to run. Please note that this reservation does not guarantee seats to the show – you must arrive 20-30 minutes prior to showtime in order to secure your seat for the show.
The Box Office accepts cash, checks, credit cards, and Blue Cards.
Sell Outs
When all available reservations have been claimed, we will announce it through this website, the Box Office voice mail, and events calendar.
If you are unable to make a reservation, there is a waiting list for each performance, beginning at the box office in G.W. Hall one hour before each performance. If there are unoccupied seats available 5-10 minutes before the performance, they will be given to those on the waiting list.
All seats are general admission and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors generally open 15 minutes prior to show.
If anyone in your party has a disability our Box Office staff would be happy to accommodate pre-admission seating. Please see a member of the Box Office staff when you arrive at the theatre.
Our Faculty
Learning happens across all aspects of our campus. Andover's faculty are subject matter experts, mentors, stewards of Knowledge & Goodness, and much more. Brad Seymour ’00 is the department chair.
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Bradford Seymour ’00
Judith Wombwell
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Ms. Dixon has enjoyed working backstage and in preparing costumes for faculty-led and student-led theatre and dance shows since 2018.
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Theatre and Dance Department Instructor
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Dancing and training that allow your body to be a vessel for expression through dance is what really drew me to ballet specifically.
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Ms. Silva teaches theatre, works on productions put on by the Phillips Academy Department of Theatre and Dance, and serves as a 9th-10th grade house counselor.
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Edward Yankow
Second-Year Fellow in Theatre & Dance, House Counselor, JV3 Boys Soccer Assistant Coach [email protected] view full profile“In the theatre classroom, I am inspired when students see the connections of observation, identity, and language come together as they empathetically learn about themselves and others through performance. In the dorm, I am often filling my kitchen with the smells of simmering sauces or cookies baking in the oven. Food is one of my favorite ways to help make the dorm feel like home!”
Past Performances
2021-2022
- Life Itself | Fall 2021
- Anon(ymous) | Fall 2021
2020-2021
- A Midsummer Night's Dream | Fall 2020
- Songs From Rent | Fall 2020
- Dance Open | Winter 2021
- 8 Perspectives | Winter 2021
- Live Life Unmuted (ADG) | Spring 2021
- March Forward | Spring 2021
- Love and Information | Spring 2021
2019-2020
- The Imaginary Invalid | Fall 2019
- ADG Fall Concert | Fall 2019
- Dance Open | Winter 2020
- Les Miserables | Winter 2020
- ADG Spring Show | Spring 2020
- Chinglish | Spring 2020
2018-2019
- Welcome to Arroyo's | Fall 2018
- The Nutcracker | Fall 2018
- Dance Open | Winter 2019
- She Kills Monsters | Winter 2019
- Larks and Leaves: Andover Dance Group Performance | Spring 2019
- Songs for a New World | Spring 2019
- Hamlet | Spring 2019
2017-2018
- ADG Heroes | Fall 2017
- Ragtime: The Musical | Fall 2017
- Dance Open | Winter 2018
- Big Love | Winter 2018
- For Colored Girls | Spring 2018
- ADG: Dark, Down, Groove | Spring 2018
- Merry Wives of Windsor | Spring 2018
Sample Courses
Costuming | THD 321
An introductory exploration into the areas of costume design and costume construction, this course will highlight primary design elements utilized in costume design for the stage and screen.
Directing | THD360
Since directing plays is the most complex of theatrical tasks, this course will focus on methods to unlock the life of
a script in the realization of production. Studies will include historic styles and productions, emphasizing their staging. Students will learn
the dynamics of floor plans and their effect on blocking, the potentials for lighting and its effect on mood, the importance of rhythm and
spectacle, and strategies to harness them. While no class on directing can function without including discussion of the actor’s craft, this class
will only touch on this area.
Andover Dance Group for Credit | THD900
The Andover Dance Group (ADG) is an auditioned performance group consisting of the most highly trained and
dedicated dancers at Phillips Academy. Students in ADG make a commitment to dance for at least two terms a year, rehearsing for faculty-directed shows as an extracurricular. Students dance five to six days a week. Serious dancers may be in the ADG each of their years at the
Academy. After one year of performing with the ADG, students may choose to take a year for credit.
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domestic or international trip each year to various theatre and dance festivals
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performance spaces varying from 90 to 300 audience members
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mainstage performance opportunities for students and 6-8 student-led productions per academic year
10+
student-led theatre & dance related clubs ranging from acting/directing to hip hop to jazz dance
